


Nature v. Nurture

by paynesgrey



Category: Dollhouse
Genre: F/M, Ficlet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-13
Updated: 2009-03-13
Packaged: 2020-10-01 00:28:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20456084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paynesgrey/pseuds/paynesgrey
Summary: Boyd notices that Echo has instincts beyond the other Actives.





	Nature v. Nurture

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 004. "Instinct" challenge at [](http://dollhousefics.livejournal.com/profile)[dollhousefics](http://dollhousefics.livejournal.com/)

There are things you have to learn and things you already know.

Boyd knows that everything Echo has learned is the bare minimum for her existence. Everything she knows, however, is instilled within her brain. They can create the motions, and they can take them away.

Yet, there are some things Echo holds onto despite the Treatment. He sees this when he catches her singing (the same song when she was a back-up) or when she sees him and gives him a towel, thinking he needs it (“No, Echo, there is no more blood.”). He observes her doing other things, like pounding her shoulder or drawing amorphous shapes in the mirror.

“Art makes me feel good,” she says, shuffling her lettuce and tomatoes around her plate, making a disjointed face. Boyd watches on as Victor and Sierra look over and smile and compliment her.

“It makes me feel good too,” Sierra says brightly.

“Art is good,” Victor chimes in. They nod their heads and sit straight in their chairs. Boyd imagines dolls in tea parties like this, it’s eerily quaint, and he knows that most Handlers would turn away without concern.

He is not like most Handlers. He keeps an astute eye on Echo. He knows there’s something different about her; she’s changing right under Adelle’s eyes. Even Topher doesn’t seem to see between the lines.

You can separate the mind from the body as much as you want, but you can’t deny human nature. Eventually, instinct trumps the commands from the most complex brain and rises to the surface.

Boyd follows a step behind Echo, and she senses his presence and smiles. She gives him her workout towel, as if on instinct, and he takes it with a small smile. It’s futile to refuse.

“Do you want to hear a song?” she asks. Boyd stares at her blankly, trying not to alert her with a scrutinizing expression. Echo is more observant than the others.

She waits for his answer and he nods. She starts singing the same song that has imprinted itself inside her most basic behaviors. She flutters off, and he walks slowly behind her. She turns around for his approval.

“I like this song,” he says encouragingly, still studying her closely.

She skips ahead of him like a pleased daughter. The song becomes louder and more beautiful. The others stare on as she continues. Boyd slips away and joins Topher Brink upstairs who’s too busy to see what’s going on in the common area of the Actives.

Boyd watches her closely. Echo sings. When the song ends Boyd sees her stop, and she looks around confused, as if she doesn’t realize what just happened.

Despite her confusion, she smiles anyway. She walks to the pool humming.

Boyd creases his brow in contemplation. Topher interrupts his thoughts to make a crass joke, but his attention is still elsewhere, back within the residual notes of Echo’s song.

Instinct is having an impact on him too, and his gut is telling him that his job to watch Echo will become more pertinent than ever. Even if Topher and Adelle can’t see it, he knows he is caring for the most important Active in the whole business.

He predicts that Echo will be the one that will challenge this operation in the end, and then he will be right beside her to make sure she succeeds.


End file.
